A PERFECT John John Florence 10 and goofy surprises at the opening day of the Oakley Bali Pro.

This was billed as a massacre of the goofies, it wasn't. Almost the reverse with the other side of the coin showing showing a touch more burnish and relegating Kelly Slater, Taj Burrow and Joel Parkinson to Round 2.

I was in the air and saw the bottom and everything happened so fast that I was just reacting. I claimed it pretty hard, but I was so stoked. I went for broke on that one and it kinda worked out.John John Florence

Freddy P who did for Parko said: “I was happy that I had priority at the end, but priority can also be tough to choose which wave you want. It’s a tough wave to surf, Keramas, and I think a lot of us are trying to figure it out. I lost early in Fiji, so I came here right away and have been putting time in and getting use to the waves here. Joel is the ASP World Champion and a great surfer and we saw Adriano kind of struggling out there as well, so you know it’s tough.”

Damien Hobgood eliminated fellow Floridian Slater. “It was a strange heat and it’s not often that Kelly doesn’t have the waves come for him,” He said. “It was one of the slower ones of the morning and I just did my best to be on the better waves and surf smart. You take any win you can over Kelly.”

But the story of the day was reserved for the Hawaiian bucks John John Florence and Sebastian Zietz, The former sporting a heavily strapped ankle and the latter overflowing with enthusiasm and talent. Barring John John's hail mary alley-oop that someone will surely claim as "biggest ever" (it was big) Zietz would have taken the win. He optimises the rookies this year who are finding life on Tour easy. Remember Jordy Smith and Dane Reynolds in their first years?

“I was in the air and saw the bottom and everything happened so fast that I was just reacting,” Florence said. “I claimed it pretty hard, but I was so stoked. The ankle is strapped but the brace gives me a lot of confidence and it feels good out there. Just psyched to be at Keramas, this wave is amazing and the boys are ripping so hard.”

The forecast for day two is for similar sized surf dropping into the following days. A small pulse is expected on the 22nd before another pulse on the 25 which is quite west and perhaps better suited for the alternative site at Canggu. The 27th sees a big southerly swell offering hope for a dramatic finish, if the event can ignore all the other great surf in the meantime.